Rabbit is supposed to be sleeping, but she?s much too curious about the world. She peeks out the family hole, and ?something soft ruffled her fur. Something cool tickled her whiskers.? What is going on? She sets out to discover what this thing is. She smells budding flower, investigates a wiggling worm, and watches a bird hatching from its egg. All this time, she hears a mysterious ?soft green sound.? Suddenly, she realizes what that sound is, and she hops home to inform her family. ?Spring is here!? The illustrations are lovely Impressionist-style and very bright.

For a spring-themed storytime, I include several books featuring planting/gardens in order to have a wider variety of books. Spring-themed stories don?t always have plot and may just be about the glories of spring, which may bore your audience after the third selection. The story of Philippe the frog begins in Paris, where ?as everyone knows, frog legs are eaten, except for the toes.? Yikes! Philippe lives ?a train ride away in the French countryside.? Why is his named Philippe? Why, because of his leap! That doesn?t make up for the teasing he gets from the other frogs-?Your thighs are too long, your shape is all wrong. You can?t be our friend, you just don?t belong.? Obviously, it?s not easy being Philippe. And as if things couldn?t get any worse, he narrowly escapes being made into fine French cuisine. He finds safe haven in Monet?s garden, where his legs are ?tres magnifique.? Puns are sprinkled throughout the story, which makes it fun for the reader and the adults in the audience (Monet?s garden ?made quite an impression.?). Story is told in rhyme and the illustrations are fine.

Lots of rhyming and potential tongue twisters in this one, so practice beforehand. Three children romp through spring scenes: stomping through puddles, digging in the earth (hello, earthworms!), turning cartwheels (look for the boy?s glasses falling off!), flying kites, and generally having a grand time. Bright and vivid illustrations complement the text.

Rabbits and spring just go together, so it?s not surprising to find rabbits featured in many spring-themed picture books. Our story starts with the sun rising and warming the earth from a cold winter. The earth wakes up, then wakes up an earthworm (which also seems to be associated with spring books!), the worm wiggles and wakes up a seed, and so forth. Each page has about 2-3 lines. The illustrations are in pastels and are big enough for most storytime groups.

This is the story of a seed-from being dropped in a hole to blossoming and being picked (with the understanding that the cycle continues). This is a quick read aloud-most pages have three words, at the most. Illustrations are bright and in the Impressionist style. A final caveat-the size of the book is fairly small, so this might not work for larger groups.

This little boy absolutely loves spring. Told in first person narrative, the young narrator flies on his swing, talks to the ants, sings a cloud song, and dances a leaf dance. Spring makes him feel so good! ?Spring tingles my fingers. It puddles my toes.? There?s not much of a story-just big, bright, and colorful illustrations and 2-3 lines of rhyming text.

During a recent summer, our young narrator listened to a robin sing a song for her every day. To her surprise, her robin flew away. Her father told her it would come back in the spring. But here it is springtime, and the robin is nowhere to be found! She finds bees, toads, earthworms, and other creatures, but no robin. Finally, she hears ?cheer-up, cheerilee! Cheer-up, cheerilee! Cheer-up, cheerilee!? This could also be used in a flowers and plants storytime, as the names of various flowers and plants are named.

Songs

In the Springtime

Tune: Mary Had a Little Lamb

Sway your arms in the springtime
The springtime, the springtime
Sway your arms in the springtime
A happy time of year!

Showers (Move like rain falling to the ground.)
Flowers (Move like something growing from the ground.)
Trees (Sway in the wind.)
Bees (Buzz and fly.)
Sun (Make a circle with arms.)
Fun (Jump up and down.)
Muck (Pretend to be stuck.)
YUCK!

Spring Sensations

I smell the flowers (Touch nose.)
I feel the showers (Cover head.)
I hear the bees (Cup ears.)
I see new leaves (Point to eyes.)
And I dream (Close eyes.)
Of ice cream (Lick lips.)
Yum!